CONSENSUS STATEMENT - BENEFITS VERSUS RISKS OF MEDICAL THERAPY FOR ACROMEGALY

A consensus panel defined the risks and benefits of medical management of acromegaly and determined a place for the use; of the somatostatin analogue, octreotide, in the overall management strategy of patients with acromegaly. Octreotide was considered effective in managing acrom egaly, and its role as an adjuvant to surgery was defined. Octreotide is beneficial to radiotherapy-treated patients in that the drug suppre sses growth hormone (GH) secretion until the long-term effects of radi ation occur. Complications associated with octreotide are minor relati ve to the benefits, but requirements for multiple daily injections and drug cost are drawbacks. Approximately 20% to 30% of octreotide-treat ed acromegalic patients develop gallstones or sludge, which are usuall y asymptomatic and require no treatment. Surgery continues to be the p rincipal therapeutic approach for GH-secreting pituitary tumors, and i mproved octreotide delivery methods and second-generation analogues wi ll provide further advantages for pharmacotherapy.